LSi9 Crossover Upgrade
After reading the reviews on how upgraded LSi crossovers made such a improvement, one of our members here trusted me to upgrade the crossovers in his LSi9's.
I briefly went through the upgrade threads and pics from Darque Knight, Ben, and Madden, taking ideas from all three.
Disassembly wasn't too bad. The speaker connectors were a little stubborn, but a little DeoxIT fixed that. The next obstacle was removing the caps and resistors off the stock boards. After snipping the leads, the film caps and small electrolytic came off easily. The larger electrolytic had to be mutilated on one of the crossovers. On the first board I didn't attempt to remove the resistors since I read that the board could be easily damaged. I decided to give it a try on the second crossover though. I placed the side of the board and resistor in the palm of my hand, placed my fingers on the other side of the resistor, and pulled in. Surprisingly, the resistors came off without much effort. I also had to partially remove the 1.2mH inductor to get to a capacitor solder lead. I desoldered one lead on the inductor and lifted it up a small bit to get to access it.
Assembly of the first crossover is what was the most time consuming. In the end, I decided to flip the board and mount all the caps standing up. I used a few drops of hot glue on each cap for support them and to prevent vibration. As for the 260uf cap, it was replaced by 2 100uf and 1 60uf Daytons mounted to a 1/4" piece of MDF. I then used industrial strength velcro to attach the board to the speaker cabinet in case it needs to be removed one day.
IMO, in comparison, a stock LSi9 sounds kind of closed in. After modifications, right out of the box there is more detail up top, mids are clearer, bass is better defined, as a whole, the speaker sounds much more open. I can't wait to get a few more hours on these. I also can't wait for their owner to hear them. Paired with his new DSW sub, he's going to have a very nice sounding 2 channel rig.
Here are some pics:
I briefly went through the upgrade threads and pics from Darque Knight, Ben, and Madden, taking ideas from all three.
Disassembly wasn't too bad. The speaker connectors were a little stubborn, but a little DeoxIT fixed that. The next obstacle was removing the caps and resistors off the stock boards. After snipping the leads, the film caps and small electrolytic came off easily. The larger electrolytic had to be mutilated on one of the crossovers. On the first board I didn't attempt to remove the resistors since I read that the board could be easily damaged. I decided to give it a try on the second crossover though. I placed the side of the board and resistor in the palm of my hand, placed my fingers on the other side of the resistor, and pulled in. Surprisingly, the resistors came off without much effort. I also had to partially remove the 1.2mH inductor to get to a capacitor solder lead. I desoldered one lead on the inductor and lifted it up a small bit to get to access it.
Assembly of the first crossover is what was the most time consuming. In the end, I decided to flip the board and mount all the caps standing up. I used a few drops of hot glue on each cap for support them and to prevent vibration. As for the 260uf cap, it was replaced by 2 100uf and 1 60uf Daytons mounted to a 1/4" piece of MDF. I then used industrial strength velcro to attach the board to the speaker cabinet in case it needs to be removed one day.
IMO, in comparison, a stock LSi9 sounds kind of closed in. After modifications, right out of the box there is more detail up top, mids are clearer, bass is better defined, as a whole, the speaker sounds much more open. I can't wait to get a few more hours on these. I also can't wait for their owner to hear them. Paired with his new DSW sub, he's going to have a very nice sounding 2 channel rig.
Here are some pics:
"He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche
Post edited by Face on
Comments
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what did that xo mod co$t?
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I too would like to know how much they were and if they would work on the Lsi7s. Also are they interchangeable in case I like the originals better?Setup:
2 Channel: Vienna Acoustics Mozart Grand, T+A P 1230R, Primare SPA21, Oppo BDP-105
PC: Vienna Acoustics Haydn Grand, Cambridge Azure 650A v2 , Peachtree iDAC, Denon DVD-3800BDCI -
Great work Face.CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint.
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I wanna hear a pair of hotrod 9's dangit . Much more open is a good thing.Nice work.
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Thanks guys!
As for cost, I believe the cost was in the ballpark of $225-250 for the pair."He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster. And when you gaze long into an abyss the abyss also gazes into you." Friedrich Nietzsche -
Awesome:) I so love this mod. Like you stated even just hot off the iron the mod will surprise you. I feel it is an even more of an improvement than modding SDA's. It truly is like a whole new speaker. The owner will be proud.
BenPlease. Please contact me a ben62670 @ yahoo.com. Make sure to include who you are, and you are from Polk so I don't delete your email. Also I am now physically unable to work on any projects. If you need help let these guys know. There are many people who will help if you let them know where you are.
Thanks
Ben -
Nice Job! Wow you really cleared that XO on the one side huh?____________________
This post is a natural product. The slight variations in spelling and grammar enhance its individual character and beauty and in no way are to be considered flaws or defects.
HT:Onkyo 805, Emotiva XPA-5, Mitsu 52" 1080p DLP / polkaudio RTi12, CSIa6, FXi3, uPro4K
2-chnl : Pio DV-46AV (SACD), Dodd ELP, Emotiva XPA-1s, XPA-2, Odyssey Khartago, LSi9, SDA-SRS 2 :cool:, SB Duet, MSB & Monarchy DACs, Yamaha PX3 TT, SAE Tuner...
Pool: Atrium 60's/45's -
Nice job Mike! I think Ben has some competition for his speaker mod business.:)Proud and loyal citizen of the Digital Domain and Solid State Country!
